Three drabbles, for those of you who aren't on Sunday100. The theme is that the title must be a list from McSweeney's site:
The Seven Stages of Drunk
Stage 1: Get bottle of whisky. Who needs Drusilla, anyhow?
Stage 2: Take several gulps. Weep. You need Drusilla.
Stage 3: Empty bottle; throw into wall. Drusilla was a fucking bitch.
Stage 4: Go buy more whisky. Feel glow of love towards liquor store clerk and patrons.
Stage 5: Start on second bottle. Remember something Drusilla said about naming all the stars. Giggle.
Stage 6: Drain second bottle halfway. Think about eating liquor store clerk; discover world swims annoyingly when you stand. Give up.
Stage 7: Finish second bottle, contemplate third. Decide to get it on the way to Sunnydale.
Frequently Asked Questions at the Office
The Summers-Giles Academy, 2006
- "Whose turn is it to supervise the practice patrol?"
- "Dawn, haven't we explained that you can't be a watcher until after college about 90 times?
- "Where's the Dustbuster? Another vamp got into the student lounge."
- "Willow, would you have any idea why our foyer keeps turning into a wildflower preserve?
- "Where the hell is Spike? Another student showed up in a lot of makeup and a miniskirt to "interview" him about being a vampire."
- "Where did Faith go? Another student showed up in leather pants to "interview" her about being a slayer."
- "Okay, who ordered pizza?"
Tossed, Hurled, Thrown
He had crashed into a floor of hot gravel with no idea of what had happened.
He remembered his courtyard, and a kiss. Buffy had kissed him. And then ... she had stabbed him? Why?
And then a whirlwind. The air was cinders on his skin, then ice cubes.
Then the crash.
He heard laughter mixed with screams. A voice greeted him, louder than the rest.
"Angelus," it said. "So nice to see you .. the party can't start without you!"
His memory took a while to return. When it did, his thoughts pained him more than any torture could.
Funny. I'm gonna have to kick lj's butt...I think it lost my post. And it was a scene between Timmy and Willow at the Bronze...I'm quite disappointed that it's one with the universe! Grr. Argh.IETA: It's not. I overreacted. again. But it's here. [link]
(I think I'm back to my old characters-sitting-around-talking ways...better get some plot in soon.)
"Willow, would you have any idea why our foyer keeps turning into a wildflower preserve?
Hee!
Anyone interested in a beta? Roughly four or five pages that became a continuation to Dream a Little Dream. (I think.)
All Buffy and Angel characters and mostly dialogue but I'm not positive if I'm doing the characters justice or even doing fic justice, for that matter.
Lovely fic here as usual. Lyra Jane, I loved Spike's drinking stages. So, I have been spectacularly unmotivated to write recently and I thought I'd try Cindy's challenge from many moons back to write for 30 minutes. This is what came out. It's my first crack at first person POV. I still don't know how I feel about it.
Scales
“Don’t open your eyes until I say so. No peeking.”
“How far are we going?”
“Almost there. Just a little farther. Ok. Now open.”
“It’s a. . . room.” Faith was working hard to keep the disappointment out of her voice, but I could still hear it.
“And don’t forget. . .” I indicated a small table off to the side.
“Oh yeah. Wine and candles. It’s. . . great. It’s. . .”
“For a former criminal, you really are a terrible liar.” It might’ve come out angry if I hadn’t been laughing so hard.
“No, no it’s nice. It’s good. I just. . .”
“Not very surprising, huh?”
“Well, I been around. It takes a lot to surprise me.”
Faith was standing there, so beautiful, trying to be a good sport and failing miserably. Her long brown hair was tangled, courtesy of too many nights spent sleeping on the floor of a bus. She had her hands on her hips and that “seen it all” expression on her face. I had seen that look countless times on the faces of countless girls in countless cities. But never quite like that before. I reached out and ran my fingers lightly down her arm. I felt her shiver. I felt it. No, not like that.
“I’ll tell you, Faith. Most people think they’re hard to surprise, but usually they’re not. You just have to give them something unexpected.”
“I hate to bust your bubble, but wine and candlelight don’t make you a mack. It’s your typical seduction scene.”
“Seduction? Faith, I’ve already tried the merchandise. And like I told you before, it wasn’t all that. So why would I be trying to seduce you now?”
“What?” Her hackles were up immediately. She was on guard, sensing something not quite right. Her muscles tensed, just waiting for a reason to throw that first punch. Magnificent, but too late.
“Did you ever wonder about the First?”
“Don’t go all Andy Rooney on me?” I raised my eyebrows. “What, one of the guards liked 60 Minutes.”
“See what I mean? Surprise. The unexpected. And I’ve been around a fair bit, too. But really, the First? That last gambit: the ultimate evil calls up an army of Ubervamps that were easier to kill combined than the first Turok Han all by it’s lonesome. Pretty pathetic, don’t you think? And then what? What was the plan? What if it had won the battle? What did it want?”
“Don’t know, don’t care. I was just there to kick some ass.”
“Oh yes. You were amazing. If only you’d moved like that in bed. Oh, well. I guess nobody’s perfect.”
“That’s it. I’m outta here. I don’t have to take shit from you.” She tried to push past me, but I caught her by the arm and held her as easily as holding a small child.
“Faith, wait. I’m sorry. I’m confusing you. Be patient with me.” She was trying to pull away, but she was no match for my strength. The realization only made her more determined to break loose. As I watched her struggle, I saw the fear rising up in her eyes, and something else. That’s what I’d been waiting for. “In all my years, year beyond measure, I could never do this. Touch. Hold. Feel skin on skin.”
“How long?” She asked, eyes wide.
“How long what?”
“How long have you been controlling him?”
“Off and on since he came to Sunnydale. I wasn’t strong enough to take full possession of the body right away. I had to wait for the right time. The right souled vampire and a whole bunch of death and destruction. A complete tipping of the scales helpfully achieved by the Slayer, the Witch and the Watcher simultaneously activating every potential in the world. Once you all did that, it was easy enough. As Wood’s soul was slipping out, I slipped right on in.”
She was terrified now. I could smell the fear coming off of her. I could smell it. It smelled so good, like what freshly baked cookies must smell like to humans. I grabbed her chin and forced her to look into my eyes.
“Guess what else I’ve never done? Killed someone with my own two hands. I couldn’t before. I had to let my minions have all the fun.”
Surprising the feel of a neck snapping.
Whoa.
Kat, damn.
(BTW, I didn;t do the Sunday 100 this weekend because I was truly disgusted at the "themes". Like I told slashgirl, I do the drabbles to stay sharp, to hone, to try and illuminate. Both the titles and the lists seemed pointless to me this week. Some good ones did come out of it, but I hope to hell they provide some genuine motivation soon. I'm missing princess twilite and her magic knack for a good theme....)
Deb--I felt the same way you did about the sunday100. I dropped the community because I had been so busy on Sundays and hadn't written anything and my friends list was flooded. But I kept seeing these weird lists for the sunday100 and had to go see what was going on.
It looks like too many people took the theme too literally and ended up making random lists that didn't say anything.
I liked Lyra Jane's, you did lists but they told a story.
And glossing wrote a Connor/Wes drabble that was intense.
Kat--I read Scales over twice. The first time I just sat dumbstruck, I missed all the little clues becuase I didn't read it close enough. That's just...wow...I think I'll go back and read again.
Kat - I read twice also just to get a deeper feel for it and notice the clues as they were happening.
Love the last line!
Kat, that was so creepy and wonderful.
